American League wins MLB All Star Game; Ortiz doesn’t get promised pitch

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American League’s David Ortiz, of the Boston Red Sox, acknowledges the crowd while leaving the game during the second inning of the MLB baseball All-Star Game against the National League, Tuesday, July 12, 2016, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Before the 10th and final All-Star Game appearance of his career Tuesday night at Petco Park, David Ortiz said Jose Fernandez offered him a parting gift. The Miami Marlins ace knew he would be pitching early in the game and told Ortiz he would serve him up three fastballs down the middle so the popular ‘Big Papi’ could go out with a bang.

“I was supposed to hit a home run in my second at-bat,” Ortiz said later. “My boy told me he was going to throw me nothing but fastballs.

“First pitch was a changeup. … He looked at me and said, ‘It’s the catcher’s fault. He called changeup. I have to throw changeup.’”

Ortiz worked a seven-pitch walk and was replaced with a pinch-runner as the American League stars poured out of the dugout to greeting him with hugs and backslaps. The 40-year-old Ortiz then finished his farewell performance doling out his own hugs and backslaps as the American League went on to beat the National League, 4-2.

Home runs by Royals Eric Hosmer – who was named MVP of the game — and Salvador Perez in the second inning against former teammate Johnny Cueto (now with the San Francisco Giants) did most of the damage as the American League won for the fourth consecutive time and 11th time in the past 14 years since an All-Star victory has meant home-field advantage in the World Series for the winning league.

“(Kris) Bryant came up and hit that homer in the first inning and I said, ‘Man, he must be on top of the world,’” Hosmer said. “Then I got one in the second inning and put a good swing on it. I had a smile on my face all the way around the bases.

“It’s great when this game can make you feel like a kid again.”

Ortiz was surrounded by kids in his All-Star farewell. There were 34 first-time All-Stars on the two squads this year. As has become a tradition in the final star turns of recent retirees like Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter , Ortiz was asked to deliver a pre-game speech to his team.

He said he told the AL stars never to forget what got them there.

“You worked extremely hard to get here,” he said. “You don’t get to the All-Star Game just because you have a good name or family. You had to work hard to get here.

“You have to look at your whole career that way.”

There will be no more work for Ortiz after this season. Despite the fact that ‘Big Papi’ reached the All-Star break leading the majors in extra-base hits, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs batted in and OPS — an unprecedented farewell at 40 — Ortiz said there will be no temptation to come back for another go-round.

“There’s no way when you’re at the beach, having a beer, watching the waves, that you want to go back to the gym and go back to work,” he said. “My body is already like, ‘Dude – seriously?’”

Ortiz said he will leave the game confident that the game is in “unbelievable hands” with young stars like Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Bryant — referred to collectively as the “face of baseball” by Ortiz.

“It seems like they’re coming from a factory, the way I see they’re prepared,” Ortiz said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Bryant homered on the first pitch he saw from AL starter Chris Sale despite the fact that was previously 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the regular season against Sale. His dad gets the credit for that.

Bryant’s home run got the National League off to a quick start but NL starter Cueto gave up a solo home run to Hosmer and a two-run homer to Perez in the second inning and the AL never trailed again. Cueto was pulled that inning after throwing 32 pitches on a day when he said he woke up feeling ill.

“I don’t like to make excuses but as you know you get up feeling well some days and some days you don’t,” he said through an interpreter. “Today, I didn’t get up feeling well. I tried to go out and pitch the best I could. But it’s a game.”

The game this year was played to decide home-field advantage in potentially the most important game of the year (a World Series Game 7) while awarding home-field arbitrarily to the American League in a National Legaue park. The decision was made because four consecutive All-Star Games are scheduled to be played in NL parks – Cincinnati last year, Miami next year and Washington in 2018.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.